Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sharply criticized the United Nations and other multilateral institutions on Saturday, accusing them of failing to fulfill their founding purpose and protect the victims of what he described as an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ahead of a major regional summit where he is expected to meet US President Donald Trump, Lula questioned the global community’s inaction.
“Who can accept the genocide that has been taking place in Gaza for so long?” Lula said, according to Agence France-Presse. He added that “the multilateral institutions that were created to prevent such things no longer function. Today, neither the UN Security Council nor the United Nations as a whole is doing its job.”
The remarks came as Gaza continues to suffer from what international observers describe as one of the most devastating wars in recent history. Over the past two years, the Israeli military campaign — backed by the United States — has left around 250,000 people dead, injured, or missing, while causing widespread destruction to homes, hospitals, and vital infrastructure.
In what appeared to be a veiled reference to Donald Trump, Lula remarked, “For a leader, walking with his head held high is more important than winning a Nobel Prize,” alluding to criticism directed at the Nobel Committee by the White House after it awarded this year’s Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, bypassing the U.S. president.
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